This invention relates to a separating device which receives a batch of defective and nondefective articles, automatically separates the defective and nondefective articles and delivers the nondefective articles to a processing station for further operation.
The invention is particularly adapted for use with processing equipment that assembles known sponge-like, disk-shaped filter members to ostomy pouches. The known filter members are usually stamped or die cut in circular form from relatively large sheets of sponge-like filter material.
During the cutting of circular shaped filters from a filter sheet, there are also unusable cut portions of the sheet material that often becomes mixed with the cut out filters. The unusable cut portions are generally the sheet material that lies between cut out filters, either in the body of the sheet or at an edge portion of the sheet. In some instances the cut out filter structure is incomplete and thus unusable, as when the cutting die makes an offset double stroke or the cutting die is at an edge of the sheet. The unusable cut portions of filter material are typically of smaller size than the usable circular filters.
Consequently, a batch of filters from a filter cutting station usually includes not only the desired disk shaped filters but also a percentage of unusable cut-out material that is accumulated with the usable cut out filters.
Attachment of disk-shaped filters to a pouch to form an ostomy bag can be carried out in a known automatic filter attachment device. The filter attachment device receives the batch of usable filters and non-usable filter material and automatically positions a filter for automatic attachment to the ostomy bag. The filter attachment device generally operates in trouble-free fashion when a disk-shaped filter is positioned for attachment to a bag. However the attachment device is unable to discriminate between a usable disk-shaped filter and unusable non-circular filter material that is randomly mixed with the disk-shaped filters.
The unusable filter material, if attached to a pouch, will result in an unacceptable ostomy bag. Furthermore, the unusable filter material can cause a jam-up in the automatic filter attachment apparatus, requiring shut down of the apparatus and manual removal of the unusable filter material. Frequent jam-ups cause significant loss of operational time and necessitate substantially continuous monitoring of the automatic filter attachment apparatus.
It is thus desirable to provide a device for separating the unusable filter material (the defective article) from the disk-shaped filters (the nondefective article) before such filters are delivered to an automatic filter attachment device.